Maurice Jones-Drew Thinks He’ll Be Cleared By Early Summer

Maurice Jones-Drew‘s left foot is still in a cast a month after surgery.

Jones-Drew had his operation on Dec. 28 and doesn’t expect to be cleared for football activity until early this summer, Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union reports.

But he expects to return to the form that won him the NFL rushing title in 2010 (1,606 yards); he was limited to six games and one touchdown this past year.

“I don’t feel like this injury is going to slow me down,” he said. “I just have to train. I want to get back and play.”

Jones-Drew has one year remaining on his contract and the Jaguars went a franchise-worst 2-14 last year, which isn’t an ideal way to finish up a deal.

“I’ve never been one to jump ship,” he said. “In college [at UCLA], we didn’t start off too good and worked out to become a better team. Obviously in Jacksonville, we have to work harder than we’ve ever done so we can build into a championship team. That’s what I’m there for – to do anything I can to help our team be elite.”

“I’ll be doing the same kind of things I did after my knee injury [after the 2010 season],” he said. “You have to learn how to walk again.”

Jones-Drew revealed the injury was a “mid-foot fracture,” not the more serious Lisfranc break that was assumed by many but never confirmed since then coach Mike Mularkey would never elaborate.

“I did mess up some things, but it wasn’t what people thought it was,” Jones-Drew said.

Like he did after the season ended, Jones-Drew again said he should have had the surgery in late November not late December.

“I made some decisions I shouldn’t have made,” he said. “But there are no hard feelings. It’s a business and we’re all on the same page now, hopefully.”